35

10. Hē hīe bint, ǫnd ic hine binde.

11. Ne rītst ðū?

II.
1. We shall bind him.

2. Who chooses the child’s gifts?

3. “He was not here,” says she.

4. Wilt thou remain in the hall?

5. The wolves are biting (= bite) the fishermen.

6. He enjoys1 the love of his children.

7. Do you enjoy (= Enjoyest thou) the consolation and friendship of the scribe?

8. Will he come?

9. I shall throw the spear, and thou wilt bear the weapons.

10. The king’s son will become king.

11. The army (werod) is breaking the doors and walls of the house.

1
Brūcan, to enjoy, takes the genitive case, not the accusative. It means “to have joy of anything.”
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CHAPTER XI.
THE CONSONANT DECLENSIONS OF NOUNS.
The Weak or n-Declension.
63. The n-Declension contains almost all of the O.E. nouns belonging to the Consonant
Declensions. The stem characteristic n has been preserved in the oblique cases, so that
there is no difficulty in distinguishing n-stems from the preceding vowel stems.
The n-Declension includes (a) masculines, (b) feminines, and (c) neuters. The masculines
far outnumber the feminines, and the neuters contain only ēage, eye and ēare, ear. The
masculines end in –a, the feminines and neuters in –e.
64. Paradigms of (a) sē hunta, hunter; (b) sēo tunge, tongue; (c) ðæt ēage, eye:
Sing. N. hunt-a tung-e ēag-e
G.D.I. hunt-an tung-an ēag-an
A. hunt-an tung-an ēag-e
Plur. N.A. hunt-an tung-an ēag-an
G.hunt-ena tung-ena ēag-ena
D.I. hunt-um tung-um ēag-um
65. VOCABULARY.
sē adesa, hatchet, adze. sē mōna, moon.
sē ǣmetta, leisure [empt-iness]. sēo nǣdre, adder [a nadder >an
sē bǫna (bana), murderer [bane]. adder2].
sēo cirice, church [Scotch kirk]. sē oxa, ox.
sē cnapa (later, cnafa), boy [knave]. sē scēowyrhta, shoe-maker
sē cuma, stranger [comer]. [shoe-wright].
ðæt ēare, ear. sēo sunne, sun.
sēo eorðe, earth. sē tēona, injury [teen].
sē gefēra, companion [co-farer]. biddan (with dat. of person and
sē guma, man [bride-groom1]. gen. of thing3), to request, ask
sēo heorte, heart. for.
gescieppan, to create [shape, land- cwelan, to die [quail].
scape, friend-ship]. scęððan (with dat.), to injure
giefan (with dat. of indirect object), to [scathe].
give. wiðstǫndan (-standan) (with dat.),
healdan, to hold. to withstand.
1 
The r is intrusive in –groom, as it is in cart-r-idge, part-r-idge, vag-r-ant, and hoa-r-se.
2 
The n has been appropriated by the article. Cf. an apron (<a napron), an auger (<a nauger), an orange (<a
norange) , and umpire (<a numpire).
3 
In Mn.E. we say “I request a favor you”; but in O.E. it was “I request you (dative) of a favor” (gentive). Cf.
Cymbeline, III, 6, 92: “We’ll mannerly demand thee of thy story.”
 37

helpan (with dat.), to help. wrītan, to write.

66. EXERCISES.
I. 1. Sē scēowyrthta brȳcð his ǣmettan.

2. Dā guman biddað ðǣm cnapan ðæs adesan.

3. Hwā is sē cuma?

4. Hielpst ðū ðǣm bǫnan?

5. Ic him ne helpe.

6. Dā bearn scęððað ðæs bǫnan ēagum and ēarum.

7. Sē cuma cwielð on ðǣre cirican.

8. Sē hunta wiðstęnt ðǣm wulfum.

9. Dā oxan berað ðæs cnapan gefēran.

10. Sē mona ǫnd ðā tunglu sind on ðǣm heofonum.

11. Ðā huntan healdað ðǣre nǣdran tungan.

12. Hē hiere giefð ðā giefa.

13. Ðā werod scęððað ðæs cyninges feldum.

II. 1. Who will bind the mouths of the oxen?

2. Who gives him the gifts?

 38

3. Thou art helping him, and I am injuring him.

4. The boy’s companion is dying.

5. His nephew does not enjoy his leisure.

6. The adder’s tongue injures the king’s companion.

7. The sun is the day’s eye.

8. She asks the strangers for the spears.

9. The men’s bodies are not here.

10. Is he not (Nis hē) the child’s murderer?

11. Who creates the bodies and souls of men?

12. Thou withstandest her.

13. He is not writing.

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CHAPTER XII.
REMNANTS OF OTHER CONSONANT DECLENSIONS.
67. The nouns belonging here are chiefly masculines and feminines. Their stem ended in
a consonant other than n. The most important of them may be divided as follows: (1) The foot
Declension, (2) r-Stems, and (3) nd-Stems. These declensions are all characterized by the
prevalence, wherever possible, of i-umlaut in certain cases, the case ending being then
dropped.
68. (1) The nouns belonging to the foot Declension exhibit umlaut most consistently in the
N.A. plural.
Sing. N.A. sē fōt (foot) sē mǫn (man) sē tōð (tooth) sēo cū (cow)
Plur. N.A. fēt męn tēð cȳ
NOTE.—The dative singular usually has the same form as the N.A. plural. Here belong also sēo bōc (book), sēo
burg (borough), sēo gōs (goose) sēo lūs (louse), and sēo mūs (mouse), all with umlauted plurals. Mn.E. preserves only
six of the foot Declension plurals: feet, men, teeth, geese, lice, and mice. The c in the last two is an artificial spelling,
intended to preserve the sound of voiceless s. Mn.E. kine (= cy-en) is a double plural formed after the analogy of
weak stems; Burns in The Twa Dogs uses kye.
No umlaut is possible in sēo niht(night) and sē mōnað (month), plural niht and mōnað (preserved in Mn.E.
twelvemonth and fortnight).
(2) The r-Stems contain nouns expressing kinship, and exhibit umlaut of the dative
singular.
Sing. N.A. sē fæðer sē brōðor sēo mōdor sēo dohtor sēo swuster
(father) (brother) (mother) (daughter) (sister)
D. fæder brēðer mēder dęhter swyster
NOTE.—The N.A. plural is usually the same as the N.A. singular. These umlaut datives are all due to the
presence of a former i. Cf. Lat. dative singular patri, frātri, mātri, sorori (<*sosori), and Greek θνϓατρί.
(3) The nd-Stems show umlaut both in then N.A. plural and in the dative singular:
Sing. N.A. sē frēond (friend) sē fēond (enemy)
D. friēnd fīend
Plur. N.A. frīend fīend
NOTE.—Mn.E. friend and fiend are interesting analogical spellings. When s had been added by analogy to the
O.E. plurals frīend and fīend, thus giving the double plurals friends and fiends, a second singular was formed by
dropping the s. Thus friend and fiend displaced the old singulars frend and fend, both of which occur in the M.E.
Ormulum, written about the year 1200.
 40

Summary of O.E. Declensions.

69. A brief, working summary of the O.E. system of declensions may now be made on the
basis of gender.
All O.E. nouns are (1) masculine, (2) feminine, or (3) neuter.
(1) The masculines follow the declension of mūð (§ 26), except those ending in
-a, which are declined like hunta (§ 64):
Sing. N.A. mūð hunta
G. mūðes huntan
D.I. mūðe huntan
Plur. N.A. mūðas huntan
G. mūða huntena
D.I. mūðum huntum
(2) The short-stemmed neuters follow the declension of hof (§ 32); the long-stemmed,
that of bearn (§ 32):
Sing. N.A. hof bearn
G. hofes bearnes
D.I. hofe bearne
Plur. N.A. hofu bearn
G. hofa bearna
D.I. hofum bearnum
(3) The feminines follow the declensions of giefu and wund (§ 38) (the only difference
being in the N. singular), except those ending in –e, which follow the declension of tunge (§
64):
Sing N. giefu wund tunge
G. giefe wunde tungan
D.I. giefe wunde tungan
A. giefe wunde tungan
Plur. N.A. giefa wunda tungan
G. giefa wunda tungena
D.I. giefum wundum tungum